By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
When Loyola chose to “play up” and join travel-friendly District 1-4A for 2024-26 with a Class 3A enrollment instead of fitting better competitively but playing in a far-flung Monroe-based district, eyebrows were raised and expectations tempered for this football season.
First-year Flyers’ head coach John Sella understood.
“I still look at it and wonder if we can handle it, because you look across the field and they have a lot more players than us, a lot more size than us. But in the Minden game, we held up. We had some tough breaks (in a 28-13 loss Oct. 4) but we hung in there, and we realized, ‘we can do this.’ The kids have impressed me with how they’ve handled playing up,” he said.
It’s better than OK. The Flyers roll into Week 9 at 6-2 overall, 4-1 in district, and after a third consecutive dominant 1-4A win, they are the Shreveport-Bossier Journal Team of the Week.
“I’m a little surprised by the record,” said Sella. “The guys we graduated played both ways, played a lot of snaps. We weren’t sure what we were going to get replacing some of them.”
Sella’s gotten a shutdown defense, allowing only 200 yards per game, and a two-dimensional offense averaging 159 rushing yards and 195 in the air. The Flyers are outscoring opponents 36-11 per game, and get out to a good start: they have a 98-16 first-quarter scoring margin and 167-42 at halftime.
“We’ve been successful with sound defense and balance on offense,” said Sella. “A couple teams have tried to take away one phase, and it hasn’t affected us. We’re explosive, fun to watch, and balanced run-pass. On defense, I’ve been impressed because we still have 11 guys flying to the football. They haven’t worn down like can happen at this point of the season.”
Top stoppers for the defense: Hayden Horton (58 tackles), down lineman Jac Ebarb (57, 12 for lost yards), Fatte Ivy (55, also 12 TFL’s) and Carter Doyal (51, 10 TFL), while Carter Ward has snatched six interceptions.
A “glue guy” has been strong safety Grayson Nunn, who sat out 2023 as a transfer and was the Flyers’ scout team player of the year “because he played so hard,” said Sella. Nunn fractured his wrist earlier this season and plays with a tightly-wrapped “club” but “he gives maximum effort all the time and has had a lot of good games.”
Mason Drake is averaging 111 rushing yards and has 16 touchdowns while sophomore quarterback Bryce Restovich has completed 62 percent of his 117 throws for 22 touchdowns and only five interceptions, distributing to three primary targets: Jake Black (30 catches, 447 yards, 6 TDs), Ben Brewer (28-496, 7 TDs) and Brock Geter (24-355, 4 TDs).
The first-year defensive coordinator is Sherrod Lewis, who previously worked across the ball with then-offensive coordinator Sella.
“I gave him the choice of coordinating either side, and he picked defense and is doing a great job,” said the Flyers’ rookie head coach after being an assistant since 2016. Continuity atop the staff was beneficial after the not-unexpected retirement from coaching of veteran Loyola leader Mike Greene.
“The kids didn’t have to learn a new personality. I knew all them. We had a head start with little transition, which has helped,” said Sella.
One big change jumps out that goes deeper than the successful W-L mark.
“Watching film from last year, it didn’t look like we were having fun, getting excited for each other when we made plays. Watching this year, we’re playing together. They’re excited for each other when somebody does something good,” said Sella.
“We’ve played better together this year, are playing for each other, and actually having fun. Football is fun. Winning is fun, too, but we’re just having more fun this year.”
Especially gratifying is abundant support from Flyer fans all over.
“People you had no idea were paying attention reach out and say ‘you’re having a great season, keep up the good work.’ There are eyes on us,” said Sella, “and I’m happy the kids have earned that respect and support.”
Now they have a shot to earn the 1-4A title if they can surprise powerhouse North DeSoto (second-ranked in the LSWA Class 4A state Top 10, 6-2 overall, 5-0 in district) this Friday and get by Northwood (7-1, 4-1) in Week 10.
“The schedule played out so in Week 9 we still have a championship to play for, which is exciting,” said Sella. “We have probably our two biggest games, and playing big games at this point is fun.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com